It Starts with Sleep

Everything begins, ends, and begins again with sleep. When the events of our day are beyond our control, oftentimes, the primary sacrifice becomes sleep. Ideally, we would love to get eight or more hours of sleep every night. However, it’s so uncommon to consistently maintain this practice that it almost feels like a joke to suggest it seriously. Worse, those seen as getting the mythical 8+ hours of sleep are perceived as not working on anything meaningful or serious.

Phrases such as “I only got 4 hours of sleep” and “I was working on this until 2:00 am” are worn like badges of honor, and the commitment is praised despite the employee being clearly unfocused or short-tempered following such a night.

The benefits of consistent, ample sleep have been well-documented. The potential for all other improvements in our lives flows from regular sleep patterns: more patience, better communication, increased energy, stronger focus, and a higher quality of work, for example. Adequate sleep gives us the following:

• Quicker reaction time
• Reduced irritability and anxiety
• Lower risk of obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes
• Stronger working memory, cognitive flexibility, and executive function
• Increase in attention

Our body naturally begins internal processes to prepare us for sleep as part of our circadian rhythm. Before we go to sleep, our body temperature drops slightly, so we feel cooler, and our heart rate begins to slow down.

Like forming any other healthy habit, getting regular sleep requires examining our current situation, understanding what needs to change, learning how to make changes, setting boundaries, and tracking actions. And as with all changes, we advocate a “progress, not perfection” approach.